30 Rock, “Floyd”: I had another freaky Ken-mare.

The Office wasn’t the only show that came back strong this week. “Floyd” turned out to be a somewhat lopsided episode — if necessarily so — in terms of the different storylines. But overall I thought it provided a good balance between the seriousness of Liz’s relationship with Floyd and the levity of the Pranksmen vs. Silver Panthers shenanigans.

Jason Sudeikis only occasionally guest stars on 30 Rock, so there was never any real chance that he and Liz would end up together. So I was appreciative of the fact that the show brought some closure that story. But man, they really drove the point home. More than 70 episodes and this is the first one that actually made me feel some sympathy for Liz. And that’s real sympathy, not the kind that’s tamped down because of all the ridiculous things she does. It started when Floyd told her that he and his fiance were hoping to find job opportunities in the city and Liz realized that Floyd was willing to move to New York for Cindy, but not for her.

When Floyd responded to this by telling her that of course he was willing to move for her, because one, she’s blonde, and two, she’s alive, like a deer, was kind of heartbreaking. In the end they both apologized and Liz ended up in their wedding party, but still. There’s a kernel of truth inside every joke, so I doubt Floyd would have said any of what he said if he didn’t believe at least some of it. One thing I will complain about. Tina Fey isn’t a frumpy, disgusting woman. I understand that Liz Lemon and Tina Fey are two different women, but eventually the show is going to have to give us a guy who will be as excited to be with Liz as we would be…or I would be…I love you, Tina Fey.

Fortunately the rest of the episode was balanced out by some stuff that we really don’t see enough on the show these days: Pete and the writers. I thought there was plenty to like here. The writers ripping their clothes off may have seemed a little juvenile, but Jack and Danny walking into the room with the TGS Dancers taking pictures of them made it all worth it. Things lost a little steam after Frank discovered that Jack was a member of the Twig and Plums society. Jack having to walk out of the room over and over again wasn’t particularly funny to start off with and the show seemed set on hitting us over the head with the joke over and over again. It ended on a high note, with Jack sending Frank a tape threatening to have sex with mom if he couldn’t leave well enough alone. Although I’m not sure the thought of Jack and Danny double-teaming Frank’s mom can really be considered revenge. Hmm.

Last night’s team-up between Jenna and Tracy worked much better than it has in recent weeks. After being forced to listen to a full twelve hours of Kenneth’s pointless, Grandpa-Simpsonesque stories, they’re now having disturbingly sexual dreams about him. I thought the dreams themselves were funny, but the best part was watching Jenna and Tracy trying to “Elm-Street” things by killing Kenneth in their dreams, especially when they tried flying away at the very end. A few missteps last night, but overall I think the show reminded us why it keeps winning Emmys.

Stuff I liked:

Dick Cheney’s website, dickviews.com.

“Now how did the very first person catch Old Gus? Well, that’s a story for another time. Right now!